Private Wang Peng was surprised when he joined the People's Liberation Army (PLA) last year to find that his remote military camp goes way beyond providing access to the Internet, and is giving personnel access to, and training in, a variety of high-tech information systems.

In fact, Wang's infantry division, garrisoned in northwest Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, provides its soldiers with TV production facilities and animation studios, so that they can create content for six TV channels sponsored by the battalion. They are also offered broader computer and technology training with one eye on their employment prospects once they are decommissioned.

This month, the division established a computer-aided career-advice service to help soldiers study law, languages and more, and push them towards jobs when they finish their time in the armed forces. When people worry about veterans' career and livelihood prospects, they need look no further for reassurance that help is at hand.

"I was told before joining the army that the PLA's camps are very occlusive. Actually, we can not only get on the Internet through computers or handheld devices but also use information systems I had never tried outside the camp," Wang says.

Private Wang, 20, from east China's Shandong province had always been a big fan of cartoon series. On camp, he has enjoyed creating animations in a studio with high-performance computers provided by his company. Wang has submitted his short movies to the battalion's TV network.

"The internal TV network provides a platform for officers and soldiers to share video footage filmed by themselves," Major Zhou Zhaoyun, communication liaison officer of the division, tells Xinhua.

"When we have ceremonies to welcome the new enlisted, farewell parties for the veterans, and major festivals, the soldiers can use the public devices to produce TV shows from filming to editing."

Moreover, each week, the TV network also broadcasts a 20-minute division news program filmed and edited by soldiers of the battalion.

According to the communication liaison officer, about 80 officers and soldiers of the division have performed as part-time cameramen and anchors to operate a total of six such TV channels in their spare time.

The new career-advice service is especially important in equipping soldiers with 21st skills in the job market, Zhou believes. "We input into it every soldier's needs for their employment after decommissioning," he explains. "The system will give advice to them and help them with studies of law, foreign languages, economics and other courses."

Sergeant Cui Guoqiang says the system has become a useful platform not only for the soldiers but also for non-commissioned officers to learn professional knowledge and skills.

Senior Colonel Duan Gongsheng, the division's political commissar, adds that the TV channels and studios, the career-advice system as well as the Internet service have satisfied soldiers' needs to pursue their interests as well as helping improve their electronic and information skills.

Electronic devices are everywhere in the division.

A 55-inch touch-screen LCD TV set installed in a corridor of the dormitory helps soldiers with everyday information from weather forecasts to train timetables. In dining halls, you don't see blackboard menus but touch-screen displays with details about every course and soldiers' nutrition requirements.

With the development of the country's socialist market economy, Chinese people, including retired soldiers, face increasing employment pressure. The division has helped the enlisted who are going to be decommissioned with practical skills to find better jobs after leaving the camp.

It has invested millions of yuan to enlarge its library with more books about electronics and computers. Officers invited professors and experts to give lectures on high-tech knowledge.